Russia Open Badminton: Ajay Jayaram, four other Indian shuttlers progress to second round of men's singles event

Vladivostock (Russia): Five Indian shuttlers, including Ajay Jayaram, progressed to the men's singles second round of the USD 75,000 Russia Open BWF Tour Super 100.

Jayaram, who finished runners-up at the White Nights International Challenge earlier this month, brushed aside Canada's Xiaodong Sheng 21-14 21-8 in the opening round match to set up a clash with compatriot Subhankar Dey, who got a bye in the first round.

Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusaidutt, who got byes in the first round, will face Japan's Ryotaro Maruo and Russia's Vladimir Malkov respectively. Chirag Sen, who was also handed a bye in the first round, will take on the top seeded Spaniard Pabo Abian.

Also in action on Wednesday will be Vaidehi Choudhari, Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka, Vrushali Gummadi, Mugdha Agrey and Rituparna Das in the women's singles.

The men's doubles team of Arun George and Sanyam Shukla will also begin its campaign on Wednesday. The duo will take on local pair Vladimir Nikulov and Artem Serpionov.

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